Effects of agricultural intensification on ability of natural enemies to control aphids
Date
2015-01-26
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Nature
Abstract
Agricultural intensification through increasing fertilization input and cropland expansion has caused rapid
loss of semi-natural habitats and the subsequent loss of natural enemies of agricultural pests. It is however
extremely difficult to disentangle the effects of agricultural intensification on arthropod communities at
multiple spatial scales. Based on a two-year study of seventeen 1500 m-radius sites, we analyzed the relative
importance of nitrogen input and cropland expansion on cereal aphids and their natural enemies. Both the
input of nitrogen fertilizer and cropland expansion benefited cereal aphids more than primary parasitoids
and leaf-dwelling predators, while suppressing ground-dwelling predators, leading to an disturbance of the
interspecific relationship. The responses of natural enemies to cropland expansion were asymmetric and
species-specific, with an increase of primary parasitism but a decline of predator/pest ratio with the
increasing nitrogen input. As such, agricultural intensification (increasing nitrogen fertilizer and cropland
expansion) can destabilize the interspecific relationship and lead to biodiversity loss. To this end,
sustainable pest management needs to balance the benefit and cost of agricultural intensification and restore
biocontrol service through proliferating the role of natural enemies at multiple scales.
Description
CITATION: Zhao, Z-H., Hui, C., He, D-H. & Li, B-L. 2015. Effects of agricultural intensification on ability of natural enemies to control aphids. Scientific Reports, 5:8024, doi:10.1038/srep08024.
The original publication is available at http://www.nature.com/srep
The original publication is available at http://www.nature.com/srep
Keywords
Agricultural intensification, Aphids -- Biological control, Biomathematics, Biological pest control agents, Nitrogen in agriculture -- Environmental aspects
Citation
Zhao, Z-H., Hui, C., He, D-H. & Li, B-L. 2015. Effects of agricultural intensification on ability of natural enemies to control aphids. Scientific Reports, 5:8024, doi:10.1038/srep08024.